The Obama administration has filed a friend of the court brief urging the United States Supreme Court to strike down California's ban on gay marriage. The government is arguing that the state's ban on gay marriage should be struck down as a denial of "equal protection under the law," but it does not call for the abolition of all state bans on same-sex marriage.

Now that Groupon has gotten rid of its quirky founder and CEO, the chief question is whether the company's underlying online deals business is promising enough to reverse its falling stock price, declining revenue growth and waning consumer interest.